Thank you to Aly Comingore for writing up a great feature in the Independent for our event this Saturday!

Presidio Motel proprietors Kenny Osehan and Chris Sewell.

Cara Robbins/Brooks Institute

Happy Holidays, From The Presidio Motel

State Street’s Hippest Lodge Hosts Second Annual Deck the Halls Pop-Up Mall

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

by ALY COMINGORE 

Since reopening its doors in 2008, the Presidio Motel has become Santa Barbara’s resident beacon of cool. Under the helm of proprietors Chris Sewell and Kenny Osehan, the little State Street 17-roomer now consistently plays host to all walks of tourists, whether they be young businessmen or touring bands looking for a place to lay their heads. And with the 2010 opening of their in-house shop, The Supply Room, the motel has also become S.B.’s go-to stop for sweet local and otherwise ungettable goods. (Think swoon-worthy Rachel Comey boots, delectable Tartine candles, and gorgeous leather pieces from S.B. master Makesmith.)

All praise aside (and they’re getting plenty, including some sweet ink in a recent Sunday issue of the New York Times), its Sewell and Osehan’s great taste and love of a good time that keeps people coming back. It’s also why we’re more stoked than ever for their second annual holiday shopping soirée. This Saturday, December 3, the Presidio Motel opens shop on Deck the Halls Version 2.0, a one-stop pop-up-mall-cum-party that’s sure to become one S.B.’s best new holiday traditions.

Starting at 5 p.m. and stretching ‘til midnight, the motel will open all of its rooms up to different proprietors to create a mini-mecca of retail therapy. Looking for handmade and locally letter-pressed Christmas cards? Tabletop Made’s got you covered. How about a haul of vinyl for your record-collecting beau? Warbler Records will be on hand to spin and sell the goods. And if its clothes and accessories you’re after, well, just take your pick: LOLOdenim, Society for Rational Dress, All for the Mountain, and Stowellen will all have collections up for grabs.

If you’re in need of a pre-, post-, or halftime shopping break, there’s plenty to keep you occupied, as the Santa Barbara food and bevy fixtures will be out in full force throughout the night. Municipal Winery, La Tour, and The Pub have got you covered on the spirited libations front; the coffee gurus of French Press will be slinging lattes, hot chocolates, and apple ciders aplenty; and Om Sweet Mama Catering and 24 Blackbirds Chocolate will supply the munchies. Meanwhile, outside, S.B. folk rockers Ghost Tiger will plug in for a live set of tunes that are guaranteed to get feet stompin’ and spirits jollied.

And as those who turned out last year can attest, it’s nearly impossible not to have a good time. “It’s so exciting to see all these independent businesses coming out of the woodwork,” said Osehan. “We both just really love the energy that comes together when the whole community gets involved in something. It’s really inspiring.” In other words, come with your shopping lists in hand, and don’t be surprised when you leave with just as much loot for yourself as you do for your loved ones.

we are very please and honored to be featured in 36 hours in santa barbara, amongst some of our favorite businesses in town, warbler records and goods, municipal winemakers, and julienne. thank you new york times!

Over time, dark spots start to appear on mirrors. The silver layer is slowly oxidizing under the influence of oxygen and water, thereby showing some of its history. This process can be regarded as degradation, however this project shows the beauty of this material transition of silver.Normally, the oxidation process in a mirror occurs randomly and evolves slowly over time. These mirrors reveal the different states of this process. In this case, sulphur is used to create an accelerated oxidation process. Depending on the time that the silver is reacting with sulphur, different colour tones can be achieved, ranging from gold to brown, to purple to blue. The states of the oxidation process are being shown in a pattern that consists of the elemental geometric shapes.

courtesy of :2or3 things i know 

i’m very excited to announce our second annual deck the halls holiday pop-up mall! all 16 of our rooms turn into pop-up shops for the night! we’ll have some repeats from last year…mercury lounge bar, warbler records and goods, the french press, om sweet mama, made with love photo booth. Some of our new additions for this year are…table top made, make.smith, shreddy cruiser, jessica foster confections, the lower lodge, all for the mountain, society for rational dress, and stowellen. plus many more!

the event runs from 5pm-11pm on saturday, december 3rd. we’ll also have live music by ghost tiger and buster blue. so excited!

Adam Silverman was born in NY, raised in Connecticut and educated at The Rhode Island School of Design, from which he holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Architecture. He moved to Los Angeles in 1988 after college, and practiced architecture, earning his California Architects license in 1993. In addition to a brief career in architecture, Adam also worked in the fashion industry for almost nine years, as the co-founder of X-Large and X-Girl clothing labels. During his time in fashion Adam also attended UCLA Anderson School of Management, and earned a Master of Business Administration in 1997.Throughout his career meanderings, Adam continued to make pots as a hobby, which he started doing in High School. Since becoming a full time, professional potter in the Fall of 2002, Adam has exhibited extensively in the US and Japan. His large-scale installation piece, Boolean Valley, (done with architect Nader Tehrani) has been exhibited at The San Jose Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and most recently at The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. He is currently working on a project at The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth Texas, where he is the self-described “potter in residence” on the construction site of the Renzo Piano addition currently being built next to the iconic, original building by Louis Kahn. In 2008 Adam became a partner in, and the studio director of, Heath Ceramics, a 62 year old California maker of dinnerware and tile.

This is the first exhibition mounted by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara, formerly known as the University Art Museum, in the Jane Deering Gallery.

This exhibition will be on view through November 6th and marks the beginning of a unique collaboration between the gallery and the museum that will allow each to use the space for a set period every year. The Jane Deering Gallery, which has been mounting contemporary art exhibitions in Santa Barbara since 2006, opened the new space in July. The gallery will schedule five exhibitions per year, from January to May, beginning in January 2012. During the remaining seven months of the year, Deering has made the space available to the museum providing it with a much-needed downtown site.

Six of Phil Argent’s paintings from the last ten years are on view, demonstrating the artist’s ongoing interest in abstraction, color, and pictorial space. Argent’s works are rooted in painterly formalism and the west coast tradition of 1960s hard-edge abstraction, characterized by precise, flat geometric planes of color. His subject matter and manner of execution, however, are influenced by a decidedly contemporary subject matter: computer technology and the accompanying vast virtual realm of data.